County Opens New Coggs Building

The new Marcia P. Coggs Human Service, 1230 W. Cherry St., while it was under construction. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Milwaukee County quietly opened its new $42 million Marcia P. Coggs Human Services building this month.

“We just opened up our Coggs building,” said Shakita LaGrant-McClain, Director of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), speaking to county supervisors Friday. “We are there.”

The new building, at 1230 W. Cherry St., replaces the former Coggs building a few blocks away at 1220 W. Vliet St.. The county has been working on the project since 2022, when the Milwaukee County Board approved using $32.3 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to substantially pay for development of the new facility.

DHHS is the largest department in county government, with a budget of more than $215 million and nearly 700 full time staff. It provides disability, housing and veterans services; includes what was formerly called the county’s Behavioral Health Division; and oversees the Aging and Disability Resource Center, the county’s Child Support Services and the county’s juvenile justice facilities.

The new four-story, 60,000-square-foot headquarters includes walk-in areas for persons trying to connect with resources provided by any of the department’s service areas, which is in line with the department’s “No Wrong Door” model that guarantees access to the breadth of DHHS services regardless of where a person first makes contact with the system.

“For the first time in history, Milwaukee County finally has a building designed specifically to deliver health and human services to the people of our community,” County Executive David Crowley. “I’m thrilled that employees have begun moving into the new facility so Milwaukee County residents, families, and children can access an inviting, accessible, and warm place to receive the resources and services they need.”

The project was set in motion in 2021 after county staff kicked the tires on the former Coggs building. Facilities staff determined it was in the county’s best interest to get out of the 222,000-square-foot building, originally built between 1910 and 1923 for a Shuster’s Department Store. It had mounting maintenance needs, lacked ADA-compliant infrastructure, was oversized for the department’s needs and was on the verge of losing its only tenant: the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

However, DHHS officials did not want to leave the building, which has long been used to provide social services. It was purchased by the county in 1961 for what was then called the Department of Welfare. It has been named for Marcia P. Coggs since 2003. DHHS leaders thought it was important that the county’s human services agency maintain a footprint in the King Park neighborhood, which has many residents struggling with poverty and has become the focus of a large, county-led affordable housing project.

Ultimately the decision was made to build a new building but keep it in the same neighborhood. Construction on it  began in 2024. The building was designed by Engberg Anderson Architects and JP Cullen served as the general contractor. Along with the DHHS offices, NourishMKE, formerly Friedens Food Pantries, is relocating its food pantry to an 8,000-square-foot space in the building.

“It’s more than a building, it’s a lifeline,” LaGrant-McClain told supervisors Friday during a meeting of the board’s Committee on Health, Equity, Human Needs and Strategic Planning.

Gorman & Company currently has a $1 million option to purchase agreement with the county for the former Coggs building on Vliet Street. The firm, which has experience redeveloping historic buildings, is expected to exercise the option and purchase it this fall. The building received historic protection in June 2024.

Gorman plans to redevelop the building into 65 affordable housing units, with commercial space on the first floor and underground parking, calling it Vliet Street Lofts. Low-Income housing tax credits will allow units to be leased at rates that do not exceed 30% of a qualifying household’s income.

The estimated development cost is approximately $32.3 million. In November last year, the company secured an important final piece of its financing stack for the project when the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago awarded it $2 million. The stack also includes historic preservation tax credits, county ARPA funds and tax incremental financing from the City of Milwaukee.

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